Chapter 115: Happy
After landing on Natsu's head, the cat immediately lay down, and the white wings on its back vanished. Natsu, with a joyous expression, looked up at the cat on his head.
Suddenly, the little blue cat sat up and spoke the first word of his life:
"Aye!"
"So cute!" Lisanna and many of the other guild members looked at the little blue cat with adoration. The members all gathered around to see the newborn, and the atmosphere became peaceful and joyful.
"Natsu, look."
"?"
Lisanna pointed at the crowd of guild members surrounding the little blue cat. "Just a moment ago, everyone was furious, but now they're all so happy."
Natsu looked at the laughing guild members and couldn't help but nod.
"He's like the bluebird of happiness."
"Happy?" Natsu looked up at the sky, his face beaming. "Then his name is Happy."
"Aye!"
"Dragon baby Happy."
"Aye!" Natsu said, holding Happy up, his face full of smiles. Happy responded in kind.
"He's not a dragon!!"
"Hehe, I'll just draw a dragon." Reedus, who was standing nearby, had overheard their conversation and drew a picture of Happy's hatching, but in his version, Happy was a dragon. Reedus had joined the guild recently. He loved to draw and had learned Pict Magic, though he wasn't very skilled with it yet.
"I wonder if my egg will hatch into a cute cat like that too?" Wendy, watching Natsu run around with Happy, said with a look of envy.
"I'm sure it will. They're very similar eggs, after all," Ultear comforted her. Wendy then began to imagine what would hatch from her own egg, picturing another Happy.
"Natsu, bring Happy over here for a second." Noah, seeing that Natsu had been excited for a while, called him over.
"What is it?" Natsu came over, looking confused.
Noah took Happy from him and began to cast various diagnostic spells. "Of course, I'm giving him a check-up to see if there are any problems."
Natsu immediately got nervous. "Are there any problems?"
"Of course not. He absorbed all of that nutrient solution very well. He's much healthier and stronger than I expected, and his potential has also increased quite a bit. He's better than I could have hoped."
"That's good." Natsu breathed a sigh of relief.
After finishing the examination, Noah handed Happy back to Natsu. "But remember to come to my place every day. I'll prepare some special potions for him to help him grow up even better."
"Mhm! I know!" Natsu nodded eagerly. But then he realized a problem. "So what do I feed him?"
"He's a cat, so he eats fish. But not big ones, just small fry. On second thought, I'd better show you how to feed him the first time." Noah was afraid the clueless Natsu would feed Happy something strange and cause an accident. Natsu, hearing Noah would help him, quickly agreed.
Noah said a few words to Ultear, Wendy, and the others, and then left with Natsu and Happy.
Natsu held Happy in his arms and followed Noah to the market. When they got there, they found there were no small fish for sale. Noah bought several large fish, had the owner help cut them into small pieces, and then used his Ice-Make magic to freeze them. He had the large block of ice float behind him and led Natsu back to his little hut.
After arranging the ice-and-fish blocks in the kitchen, Noah took out one piece of ice and handed it to Natsu, pointing at Happy, who had been drooling ever since he saw the fish at the market. "For now, one piece of fish per meal should be enough for Happy. When it's mealtime, just use your fire to melt a block of ice to get the fish out. Remember not to use too much fire. Let's try it now."
"Mhm."
Following Noah's instructions, Natsu carefully melted the block of ice with his flames, revealing the piece of fish inside. Noah nodded; Natsu's flame control was good, and he hadn't damaged the fish.
"But don't we need to cook it before giving it to him?"
"Why don't you give it to him now and see if he eats it?"
Natsu handed the piece of fish to Happy, who took it in his paws and immediately began to eat it eagerly.
"See? Look how happy he is."
"Mhm."
"Then remember to feed him at regular times, and come to my place once a day."
"I got it."
"Then I'll be going now."
"Bye, Noah."
Noah left Natsu's house, went to train for a bit, and then returned home.
Two days had passed since Happy's birth. After witnessing the event, Wendy had become even more loving towards her own egg, checking on it constantly.
On this night, the indicator light on her incubator also changed from green to orange. Having seen what happened with Natsu, Wendy knew this meant her egg was about to hatch. She quickly found Noah, who checked it and confirmed that it would hatch within a day.
Ever since she heard the news, Wendy had been watching the egg constantly, even eating her meals with her small bowl in front of it.
When it was time to rest that night, Noah saw that Wendy was already sleepy, her head nodding, but every time she woke up, the first thing she would do was check on the egg.
"Alright, Wendy, you should go to sleep. You shouldn't stay up all night; it's not good for your body. Look, you're about to fall asleep sitting up," Erza, who had just finished her bath, said, trying to persuade her.
"But—" Hearing Erza's voice, Wendy forced herself to stay awake, looking at the egg with hesitation.
"If you're worried, you can sleep on the sofa in the living room. If the egg hatches, I'll be the first to let you know," Noah said, offering a solution.
Wendy was relieved. She perked up, went to her room to get her small blanket, and then lay down on the sofa in the living room, falling asleep the moment she lay down.
"Wendy really cares about that egg," Erza remarked softly, looking at the sleeping girl.
"Of course," Noah said. "Wendy is a very caring person to begin with, and after looking after it for several days, she's naturally grown attached."
"But from the sound of it, you're planning to stay up all night? Didn't you promise us you wouldn't do that anymore?" Erza looked at him intently. Before, when Noah had gotten lost in his research and stayed in his lab for days, she had been the one to drag him out. Afterward, they had made him promise not to pull all-nighters and to take care of his health.
"Of course, I haven't forgotten my promise to you all. I'm not the one staying up to watch." As he spoke, another Noah walked out from his body.
Erza's eyes widened in realization. "A Thought Projection!"
"That's right. I'll just have him keep an eye on the egg for me. Problem solved, right?"
"That's acceptable," Erza nodded, satisfied.
~~~
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